The Skrullpire Saga Part 1
by BlackPan1her
Summary: Three heroes enter the hostile territory of the Skrull homeworld, but they might not all make it back... Marvel 616 non-canon, but taking place after the events of Secret Invasion


The Skrullpire Saga

Part 1

Hostile Territory

"_We don't have a chance in hell_…"

That is what Eric Brooks, alias 'Blade', is thinking to himself as he sits in an old chair at the Avengers Mansion, listening to the battle plan that Tony Stark is briefing them all on. The plan so far consists of a stealth mission inside Skrullos, the home world of the nefarious Skrulls. Intel over several months has led Tony to believe that they are planning another wide-scale attack on the Earth, and this mission is to find out what they are planning. Tony clears his throat and continues the mission briefing,

"Alright team, we don't want too many people on this mission. It's simple get in, get what we need, and get the hell out. Who wants to volunteer?"

Carol Danvers, alias Ms. Marvel, immediately stood up. "Gladly," she said, "anyone else care to join me?.."

Eric was looking across the room for anyone to stand up. Red Hulk was scratching an itch and didn't seem to care; Union Jack cracked his knuckles and didn't make a sound. They all knew that it was almost a suicide mission.

"Blade," Ms. Marvel proclaimed, "He would be perfect for the stealth required for this mission". Eric looked over at her, tipping his sunglasses down to look at her directly in the eye. He sighed and finally uttered, "Fine. But I know we'll need one more man for this mission. Two people going into a hostile planet, filled with those… things would be idiotic."

"Well, call me the dumbest man on the planet."

Eric looked behind him. It was Clint Barton, alias Hawkeye. "I could use a vacation," he laughs, "even if it involves sneaking around some smelly aliens with plans for world domination."

Tony clapped his hands once and proclaimed, "Then it's settled! I will prepare a spacecraft for the three of you. "

About 15 minutes later, the three of them were boarding the spacecraft and gathering supplies for the mission. Blade, however, didn't need anything that he didn't already have: His sword, glaives, daggers, and his other various bombs and incantations. Clint, however was stocking his quiver with anti-gravity and explosive tipped arrows. Carol started the jet and within minutes they were breaking the atmosphere.

"It's been so long that I forgot how fast these things went," Blade said to break the silence. Clint laughed and kicked his feet up on the dashboard of the ship. "_It must be his way to keep himself from worrying," _ Blade thought, "_Or he doesn't realize that we could all die today"._

After a while, Carol spoke up. "We're in visual contact of Skrullos. Clint, activate the radar disruptor. We don't want any surprises." As Clint pressed a few buttons, Eric was clutching the hilt of his blade, going over his own plans if the mission proved to fail. "_I hate intergalactic travel", _Eric thought to himself.

The three heroes landed onto the surface of Skrullos without detection, deciding to touch down on an unoccupied section of its capital city. Blade exited the ship first, mostly because he just wanted to walk on solid ground again. Hawkeye and Carol then walked out of the spacecraft, checking the area for any nearby Skrull life forms.

"I brought a camera, you know, just in case we can't get out hands on any physical evidence," Clint stated. Carol nodded, and the three started walked carefully towards a nearby building. They approached the towering structure; Hawkeye used a grappling hook arrow to traverse the building. Blade broke out two daggers to physically climb to building like a rock wall, but Carol grabbed him and flew up the building. As they rose up into the air, Eric said, "You know, I don't need any help, Carol. I've done this many times before." Carol simply smirked in response.

After the three reached one of the higher floors of the building, Blade took his sword out and cut out a large hole in a window, then pulled the huge piece of glass out and let it fall down the side of the building. All of them entered through the hole and as Carol and Blade took a few steps down a hallway, the two heard a few faint whooshing sounds. They looked to their right, and noticed a Skrull underling with three arrows in its chest. Looking behind them, Hawkeye shrugged and quietly said, "What? He would have gone to his superior."

After venturing through what seemed to be a labyrinth of hallways and passages, Carol heard a familiar voice in the distance. "Come on!", she softly said under her breath, and the three followed the voice. Blade hugged a wall and turned his head around the corner. It was Paibok, The Power Skrull. He was walking around with a scroll in his closed hand. "Well, that looks important," Blade said as he turned back to his allies. He explained what he saw to them and Carol immediately said, "Well, what are we waiting for then?" "Because he is surrounded by some other Skrulls. And I really don't want to throw down with a super-powered freak today ," retorted Blade.

Clint spoke up and said, ""Well, maybe we should ditch being stealthy for now and hit these green idiots where it hurts." The other two were reluctant to agree and they followed the garrison of Skrulls and made their presence known. "Hey, Paibok!" shouted Carol, "Give us the scroll or you're going down!" Paibok laughed once and waved his hand, signaling the other Skrulls around him to attack.

Blade drew his sword out and cut a few of them down to size immediately, as Clint shot a few explosive arrows at the center of the group of Skrulls. Ms. Marvel went straight for Paibok, and the two engaged in combat. Carol charged a beam of energy and shot it directly at his eyes, blinding him for a second. Carol then tackled him to the ground. Paibok threw a right hook at Carol's face as it knocked her back. The two powerful beings then started to exchange blows as Blade and Hawkeye finished off the remaining Skrulls, rushing towards Ms. Marvel to assist her. Blade slashed his sword at the Skrull warrior, but Paibok simply parried the double-edged blade with his fist and knocked Eric down without haste. Clint shouted at Carol to get back as he looked down the center of his bow, an arrow aimed at Paibok's chest. Carol sidestepped Paibok and Clint let his arrow hit the target. The arrow stuck into Paibok's chest and as Blade was recovering, Eric could hear a faint beep. Eric smirked and rolled out the way as a huge explosion knocked Paibok down, with the infamous Power Skrull dropping the scroll.

Clint picked up the document and began to examine it. It contained a blueprint and what looked like a contract. He skimmed it and stated, "This thing is an approval to build a new doomsday device, and it's been signed by the Skrull Queen herself!" Clint rolled up the document and reached back, putting the scroll into his quiver. Thinking fast, Carol pointed down a corridor and said, "He was heading this way. Maybe that is where they're going to build this weapon!" So, the three ran down the hallway, occasionally killing a Skrull or two marching down the branching corridors.

They ended up trekking down several flights of steps and they came across a 30-foot door. Carol opened the heavy door and peered inside. What she saw shocked her. "Clint! Hand me your camera!" she said. Clint took the camera out of one of his pockets and threw it to her. She went back into the room , flying around taking several pictures. She didn't see that she was spotted, and a Skrull underling set off a silent alarm. As soon as Carol left the room and closed the large door behind her, she saw Blade and Clint fighting off a bigger garrison of alien troops than before. She shot forth a few beams of photon energy and yelled, "We got what we needed! Let's get out of here!"

As they were running back the way they came to get back to their ship, Clint asked Carol what she saw. Carol told him that it was the half-constructed doomsday device. "I guess the Skrulls didn't want to wait for their Queen's approval," Blade said, thinking out loud. Carol nodded her head and then took off, flying ahead of them, peering down all the branching hallways to check for Skrull reinforcements. The Skrulls were coming out of the woodwork, it seemed. Carol shouted back at them, "Move your asses, they're getting closer!" Eric got a second wind and started to run faster. The three of them eventually came in contact with the attacking Skrulls, and fought them off quickly while continuing to run down the final hallway towards the window.

As they approached the window, Blade turned towards the small army moving towards them. He knew that they would need someone to hold off the Skrulls so they all could escape safely. Blade shouted behind him, "Go! Get out of here and start the ship! If I'm not there in three minutes, go without me… " Carol was hesitant at first, but reluctantly she flew around, picking up Clint and rushed towards the ship. As Clint and Carol prepped the ship for takeoff, she thought to herself, "_Come on, Eric. Just get out of there! Don't be a hotshot…" _

Eric was taking out one Skrull after another with his trusty sword, throwing a few grenades to keep the rest at bay, but he knew his attempts were not enough. Making sure Carol would not jeopardizethe mission, knowing that the 3 minutes he had promised he would arrive at the ship were quickly expiring, he turned on his communication device for the first time since the mission started and contacted Carol.

Blade said into the device, "Carol, Clint! _I don't think I can make it. Takeoff without me!_" Carol heard him over the device and responded, "_No! I'm not losing you, Eric! We're all going to get off this rock together!_" Before turning off the commlink, Blade just uttered, "_I'm sorry, Carol. Tell Tony the mission was a success." _ Carol knew he was right and proceeded to finish the preparation to launch. As they flew past the building, she saw that no one was near the entrance. She closed her eyes, holding back a tear, knowing Blade had either been captured… or worse. Carol and Clint barely escaped the planet themselves, as several Skrull ships engaged their small spacecraft.

On the ride home, not a word was spoken between the two of them. Not a single word. They knew as soon as they got back home, they would have to prepare for another mission: to rescue their friend.

-Back at Skrullos:-

Blade awoke from unconscious, disoriented. The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain in the back of his neck. In a state of shock, he touched the back of his neck and felt a giant bruise. He moved his neck slightly and started to get up. He found himself inside what seemed to be a Skrull containment cell. Suddenly, a Skrull scientist approached the cell door and unlocked it. The Skrull walked in and simply smiled. It motioned at a surveillance sensor, and Blade found himself in a state of paralysis. Holding a needle, the scientist simply said, "We have big plans for you, daywalker. Our machine you discovered? That is nothing compared to what your… unique DNA can do for us." The Skrull scientist stuck the needle into Blade's arm and whispered, "Long live the Skrull Empire…"

-End of Part 1-


End file.
